Patience Rewarded

Not enough sleep. I'd like to sleep in but I have to get the child up to meet the school bus. There are mid-term exams this week and the school schedule is truncated. Yesterday, I went to the gym wondering how the rescue pup would fare all alone. He just slept on the sofa. Today, we have him and his brother and I'm nervous about leaving them home alone again. It's important to spend a lot of time with them, especially the returned prodigal son. He's really skinny with a few little cuts to his face and paws but only one burr stuck to his tail. Impressive for a dog who ran amuck through the neighborhood for 5 days, including a snow and sleet storm and frigid night temperatures. 

How is he home? Well, it wasn't the traps which he deftly avoided. It was my son and I taking the other pup for a walk. We heard barking and howling but it's hard to recognize a dog you've only known for 6 hours when it's pitch black dark outside. We saw glowing green eyes down the road. I brought the brown pup back into the house. My son waited in the road while the runaway ran halfway up to him, then turned and fled. A few minutes later we saw him loping across our yard, nose to the ground. We had just walked through there a half hour prior. I figured, finally he'll get caught in the giant box trap behind my house! But instead, I heard loud howling. He was sitting there outside the front door, still wary and nervous. 

He could see the brown pup through the bars of the child gate we had reinstalled. And then, with a few soft words and a lot of patience with me holding the storm door open while in a crouch, he walked inside. He's endlessly thirsty and hungry, and of course, his sibling won't let him eat all the food he wants. Suddenly the brown pup has become competitive for food and attention and water. I bought another Martingale collar and affixed it to the runaway this morning. I'm having a harder time with proper harnesses. Brown pup chewed and broke the clip to the harness he was wearing. White pup originally escaped by slipping backward out of said harness. But I like the handle on the harness for extra control of these crazy pups. 

The dog catcher (wildlife control experts contracted by our town) waived their fee even though they'd been out to our property to set traps and check on those traps several times a day for the past 4 days. Instead, they told me to apply the money I would've paid them to another person (the animal control expert in the next town) for pup training. These are good people! The trainer is the gal who told me about Martingale collars. Other people prefer a slip lead which is like a noose that tightens if the pup pulls too hard. I went to the store and looked at a few but I didn't find them reassuring. 

Back to the gym tomorrow. I'll probably just do some cardio and core. Because I'm exhausted without having done much exercise at all.